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Ubuntu Edge Crosses $3.1M In Its First Day

Phoronix: Ubuntu Edge Crosses $3.1M In Its First Day

Less than 24 hours ago there was the start of Canonical's crowd-funding campaign for Ubuntu Edge. In the next month the Ubuntu Linux makers want to produce a high-end smart-phone running Ubuntu Phone OS, but in order to do so they need 32 million USD. In the first day they are off to a good start and have made more than three million dollars...

No, he means that the ones funding it must be actual investors, i.e., people getting a percentage of the profits it's supposed to generate. The way it is, you are buying vapor, and they might get your money in exchange of nothing if they don't get enough to fund development. IndieGoGo takes the payment in advance, and just asks for a bigger commission if the money is not as much as asked initially. And I kind of agree with him, since you run the risk of being an investor (if the project fails, who will give you your money back?) without the benefit of being so (none of the prizes say "you will have a x% of the profit we get from the phones"), except from a small discount. Heck, if this even goes to carriers, I'll probably buy one at half the price the backers paid or less, with the condition of keeping the same company for a year (at least, it works that way in my country), which I never changed in my life.

Even when I don't really like Mir (I have had no reasons to like it yet, and I can see drawbacks in having an extra display server), I hope this works, not for Canonical, not for the Linux desktop, but because of all the people who will lose money if this fails.

Originally Posted by enfocomp

Right on, I can't wait to buy an Ubuntu phone that can dock onto a monitor & keyboard/mouse. Would be great to replace my netbook + cell phone into one converged device.

I'm still going to use Debian or Arch for my main workstation, but this would be great for my other uses!

Is it supposed to use a dock? I agree dockable phones are great. I wonder why Motorola canceled Webtop.

When paying 600 or more (830 if you didn't yet), they "promise" that if the phone gets to exist (usually, it depends on getting enough funding) you will receive one, so yes, it's *kind of* a pre-order. Not really, because it's more like a bet you make on it succeeding.

My take: good luck. Making a hardware is extremely challenging.
Some comments from LWN.net:

Originally Posted by martin.langhoff

One one hand, I love it, and I may well fund it.

On the other hand, as an ex-OLPC-er, my reaction is: hardware is HARD, on so many levels. Ubuntu does not have the organizational know-how.

Who is running the hardware side? At what level are you outsourcing, and who is managing it on your side? What know-how do they bring to the table? What leverage do you have with the OEM/ODM? How about other players in the supply chain?

And if you are going to do this via an Indiegogo campaign, do you understand the business logistics of hardware certification? Of EU recycling? Of power supplies?

Their FAQ does not list "What countries will you ship to?" -- that's a red flag right there. Together with the timeframes.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as negative. I may well put money down for one -- will think it through tonight. But hardware is a completely different business from software. Please show me you understand that :-)

Lots of issues:
Safety certification (UL/CSA/CE Mark aspects/...) This is needed both for the power supply and the device itself
Environmental hazardous substance bans
Recycling fees (like in California)
Actual recycling (like in Europe)
Radio certification, both WiFi and cell frequencies and non-interference
Carrier certification
Warranty coverage/local repair centers and terms which vary by country
How is voice being done with an LTE-only device - VoLTE, Google Voice?
Which LTE frequencies will be covered?
Sales tax/VAT - some countries allow importer to pay this, others require a single distributor in each country to pay this. Otherwise your device may get stuck in customs.
Export/import classification for a number of countries - what happens if someone from North Korea tries to buy one - there is probably enough US content to prohibit it.
While power supplies can adapt to different voltage/frequency, different plugs are needed for each country. The power supplies are typically the most sensitive for safety regulations.
Non-uniformity of country laws - China prohibits full disk encryption - what unique laws may affect product?

Charging only an extra $30 to ship outside US/Europe makes me think Canonical doesn't understand how much getting certifications from multiple countries/carriers will cost, or will leave the risk of not being certified to the purchaser.